


Iris

by MelyndaR



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:03:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17685731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: The Wheelers are reunited with people they had long thought to be only a part of their past.





	Iris

Per the usual for a winter day in Louisiana, rain drizzled down from an overcast sky. Liesl Davis shivered, darting quickly across the road beside her mama. The seventeen-year-old was so busy envisioning the coffee she was going to brew for herself when they got back home that she didn’t immediately notice when her mother froze in the street.

_It was a long walk home from the launderer’s where they worked. Why had she stopped?_

“Mama?” Liesl murmured, only to be spoken over as a white man spat on the ground near her mama’s too-worn shoes.

Liesl jumped, but the man took no notice of either woman; he was staring at a bright poster pasted to the side of a building. “Shameful,” he scoffed darkly. “Travelers or not, they oughtta know better than to advertise _those_ sorts of things around here.”

Liesl studied the poster that had caught the attention of both her mama and the man – two _black_ people… on trapeze. She looked to her mama again as the man stalked off. “’ _The Amazing Wheeler Siblings._ ’ Mama… do you know them or something? They are a trapeze act.”

“Liesl,” Iris Davis drew herself up to her full, still-petite height, a strange, determined sort of look on her face that not even her own daughter knew how to translate. “Does it say where they’re set up at?”

* * *

“I already told you, the show doesn’t open until tomorrow.” O’Malley’s voice cut through the air as Phineas turned the corner around the tiger’s cage. “Says so on the posters. Don’t you read?”

The younger of the two women talking to O’Malley stepped closer to the elder, a fiercely protective look in her eyes, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out where O’Malley had put his foot in his mouth. _Probably the elder_ couldn’t _read._

Before O’Malley got himself in further trouble with the girls, Phineas headed over and interjected with an easy smile, “Everything all right here?”

“They were just leaving, Barnum,” O’Malley promised with a dark glare towards the ladies.

They stood their ground, the elder glaring right back at O’Malley while the younger one looked supportive of her companion but also thoroughly confused. “All due respect, Mr. Barnum,” the older woman said, still watching O’Malley out of the corner of her eye. “I’m not leaving here until I see Will and Anne. They’re old friends, and I _need_ —”

“Well, why didn’t you just say so?!”  Phineas wasn’t sure how much he trusted what they were saying, but there was a sincerity in her eyes that he couldn’t bring himself to discredit, and they _were_ setting up for the show that was going to be closest to Anne and WD’s hometown. Besides, if these women were more, or less, than they said they were, Lettie and Phillip were both in the ring where he’d last seen Anne and WD practicing, so if something went wrong, there would be plenty of reinforcements. “Follow me; they’re practicing their act in the big top, at the moment.” O’Malley shot the women one more distrusting look as they walked a step behind Phineas, but he ignored it, hanging back to fall into step with them as he asked the younger woman, “Have you ever seen a trapeze act, Miss…”

“Liesl Davis, and this is my mama, Iris Davis – and yes, sir, I have. I—In fact, Mama and I have a trapeze set… set up in a barn on our farm.”

“She’s good at it,” Iris said, a suddenly nervous energy surrounding her.

“So’s Mama.”

Phineas raised his eyebrows, surprised at this unusual information. “Where did you get such a… hobby?”

“It’s something my husband saw once when he was a boy,” Iris answered. “We started trying it for ourselves – started out as more of a tumbling act, really. These days, I do it so that it’s something Liesl has of her daddy.”

Phineas shot them a grave glance before answering, “Ah. I’m… sorry for your loss.”

He thought he might’ve heard Liesl mutter, “Never said he was dead,” as he held open the flap of the tent for them. Following them into the red and white light of the tent’s interior, he scanned the whole space for Anne and WD. Anne was twirling in the main ring where he’d left her, and Lettie was still watching from the sidelines, but Phillip had taken WD’s place with Anne, and WD was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, he led Iris and Liesl over anyway.

“Anne, I have some people here who say they’re friends of yours,” he said with a smile.

Anne, clad in her tradition-ignoring pink practice suit, turned with Phillip’s hand still on her arm to see who he was talking about. She frowned at Iris and Liesl. “I’m sorry. Should I know you?”

“Anne?” Iris asked, clearly nervous as she took a step towards the trapeze artist. “Anne Davis?”

Anne’s frown deepened as she took a sharp step backwards to keep distance between herself and their visitors. “I haven’t used that name in a very long time. I’m sorry – who did you say you were?”

Iris began to wring her hands. “No, I suppose you might not remember me. You were only five at the time. My name is Iris – Iris Davis. I—”

Anne’s eyes widened, and as suddenly as she’d stepped back, she moved closer to the woman, peering closely at her face. “I know who you are,” she interjected, quiet and sharp. “I’m sorry, it’s just been a long time, and I thought—we thought you were dead, or up north, maybe.” She whipped suddenly towards Lettie, who’d come closer when Anne had become upset, ordering. “Go get WD. Now!”

“Anne,” Phillip said, clearly as confused as the rest of them. “He said…”

“I don’t care about the outhouse, and neither will he. Lettie, _go_.”

For once, Lettie went without a word, shooting a worried look in Phineas’s direction. He could only shrug and wait for things to either be explained or start to fall into place.

“I swear we looked for you everywhere,” Anne said, turning back to Iris. “But with Mama gone at the same time as you went away, someone had to look out for me, and when we went back to Mr. Davis’s place, Mrs. Davis said you’d been sent to the Caribbean, and…” she shook her head. “He couldn’t… couldn’t bear to think it, couldn’t… he felt responsible for me, so…”

“It’s all right, Anne,” Iris said, reaching out to her as Phineas was shocked to see tears start to fall from both women’s eyes. “It’s not your fault. Mrs. Davis was always a conniving monster. She wanted all the sharecroppers she could get, so she lied. But she’s dead now.”

“And now you’re here. You found us.”

She launched herself into Iris’s arms as WD came into the circus tent with Lettie behind him.

* * *

“WD,” Lettie met WD as he was halfway back to the big top, asking him with a curious light in her eyes, “Do you know a woman named Iris Davis?”

He paused mid-step before continuing on and answering, “I used to. Why? Where’d you hear the name?”

She appeared to be biting back a sudden grin. “Is it important for you to know that there’s a woman of that name who’s shown up?”

His heart skipped a beat as he demanded, “Where?”

“She’s in with Anne and the others.”

He took off at a run, bursting through the flap in the tent to see Anne tightly hugging a woman who’s back was to him. A teenager with Iris’s eyes noticed him before any of the others did. She tapped her companion on the shoulder, and Anne broke away from their hug to let the other woman turn to face WD.

He stopped breathing, and her name, so long shoved down into the recesses of his mind as part of a box of memories labelled “a different life,” sprang to his tongue without thought.

“Iris.”

“Will!” She seemed as breathless as he suddenly was when their eyes met.

He was shaking. She was trembling, he could tell even from across the ring. They managed to run to each other anyway. He hadn’t cried since the day he had lost her, half his lifetime ago, but he was crying now, tears falling into her hair as he held her so tightly he might be afraid of breaking her if he didn’t remember how resilient she was. But she returned the gesture just as tightly until he kissed the top of her head, then her forehead, then her cheeks, dashing away her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

Feeling so many things at once that he didn’t know what to do with any of them, he kissed her lips as if he was afraid he’d never get the privilege of doing so again… because he had resigned himself to exactly that.

But he was holding her again, at right this moment. _His wife was here!_

A small, completely baffled voice cut through his captivation with that fact. “Mama?”

Iris gasped, breaking away from their kiss as she whispered as if just remembering there were others around, “Liesl!”

“What?” WD gasped before the pieces fell into place in his mind and he snapped his head towards the teenager who’d clearly come with Iris. He should’ve known, but still… “No… surely…” he glanced back at Iris, then back at the teenager. “No. You’re grown!”

Liesl kept right on looking at her mother in confusion, something like fear creeping into her brown eyes. “Who…? Is that…?”

Iris nodded, her hand tightly squeezing WD’s. “I’m sorry, honey. I should’ve told you before we came, but… if I was wrong, I didn’t want you getting your hopes up – but it turns out I was right.”

WD swallowed roughly, turning to the teenager while making sure that he kept Iris’s hand held tightly in his own. “Liesl,” he began, only to trail off, because what the _hell_ was he supposed to say to the daughter he’d last seen as an infant?

There were tears in her eyes, replacing her uncertainty with a speed – with a _faith in him_ – that maybe should’ve unsettled him. It stole his breath away, though, as she said softly, “Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, baby,” he answered, another sob catching in his throat.

She didn’t meet him in the middle like Iris had, didn’t even move towards him. So, he went to her, Iris still right at his side as he wrapped his free arm around Liesl and held on tight. “You’re so big,” he said again, grief slashing through his chest at the years lost even as further tears of joy sprang into his eyes.

Liesl hugged him tightly, shook her head even as she burrowed into his chest. “I can still fit into a hug just fine.”

WD rested his chin gently atop her head, pulling Iris to them both… then chuckling softly when he realized that, if nothing else, Liesl had gotten his height instead of her mother’s. Iris was a good head shorter than either of them, but she still fit well into their three-way hug.

After a long moment of just standing there, soaking them in, WD glanced over their heads to see Anne watching them with tears in her eyes, Carlyle looking far more confused as he rested an arm around her shoulders. Barnum and Lettie were smiling, but he saw the worry in Barnum’s eyes as to what all of this meant… and he wasn’t sure what to say to it.

“Not to ruin the mood,” Mr. Barnum spoke up. “But I’d like to be certain of what’s going on here.”

The ringmaster was smiling, and WD chuckled in a moment of disbelief, grinning right back at him as he disentangled himself from his girls. “Mr. Barnum, this is my wife, Iris, and our daughter, Liesl.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Barnum said with a broad smile as he shook the hands of both women.

To his credit, he _did not ask_ questions, and for that WD was grateful. He figured the painful truth – or at least the basics of it – was clear enough. No need to discuss it.

“Ladies, this is Mr. Barnum, and this is Miss Lettie Lutz.”

Anne shot him a there-and-gone _look_ , and WD grinned unapologetically at her – ornerier now, rather than out of any ill will – as she added, “And this is my fiancé, Mr. Phillip Carlyle.”

“He’s my partner in this business,” Barnum added with the same showman’s smile on his face, but there was a paternal glint in his eyes when he glanced at Phillip and Anne.

Personally, WD was grateful for it, for the fact that there were more people here who were willing to look out for Anne – and for WD himself, and now, hopefully for Iris and Liesl, too.

Liesl raised her eyebrows, glancing between Anne and Phillip skeptically, but Iris looked right at WD with amusement shimmering in her eyes. Like she could tell exactly how much cane he’d raised to begin with about it when he and Anne were alone. Probably she could. Iris had always understood people – himself included – better than he did.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Carlyle.” Iris gave him a warm smile, shaking his hand. She glanced behind them all at their practice rigging, asking, “Are you a part of this act?”

WD snorted before he could catch himself.

Phillip checked him on the shoulder with a wry smile, answering, “No, I’m not. I don’t exactly have an act.”

“Everybody has an act,” Liesl murmured, almost under her breath.

“He’s dramatic, but that’s about it,” Anne said with a smile.

“Are you a part of this act?” WD asked Iris suddenly, an idea coming to mind that made his brow crease.

The trapeze routine that he’d choreographed had, originally, been with Iris. Anne had taken her place later, once she was old enough and with Iris already long gone. Now Iris was here again, and the truth of the matter was that Barnum didn’t allow people, except the children of circus members, to travel with his circus unless they served a purpose. And, sure, Iris could easily be a cook or a seamstress for the troupe, but he would’ve much rather she attempted to integrate herself into the trapeze act.

“I—” Iris hesitated, glancing between him and Anne before she admitted, “Would be willing to try, if you’re willing to let me.”

“We would be _thrilled_ to let you,” Anne announced, grinning.

“Well,” Mr. Barnum said grandly. “Welcome to the circus, ladies!”

“Welcome _home_ ,” WD said, far softer as Iris rested her cheek against his chest.

Liesl, too, curled carefully into his embrace as Iris answered, “We’re glad to be here.”


End file.
